1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the stacking of sheets with a stacking band conveyor, which for two-sided action on a series of scalelike staggered sheets has conveyor belts with conveying surfaces facing each other, which conveying surfaces define a conveying track, the latter beginning at its entrance having at least one bend about an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the conveyor belts and having an exit directed substantially downwardly from above, with a substantially horizontal support on which the exit of the stacking band conveyor is directed and on which the scalelike staggered sheets are pushed together in the staggering succession into a stack with sheets standing substantially vertically on their edges, and with a feeder which feeds the sheets to the entrance of the stacking band conveyor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By devices of this type, stacks are supposed to be formed with sheets vertically standing on one edge, whereby under the designation "sheets", flat objects in general are to be understood, for example, single or individual sheets of paper, cardboard or the like, and multiple folded sheets. The preferred use is the stacking of folded sheets exiting from a folding machine, thus booklets of sheets. The advantage of stacks with vertical standing sheets, which stacks are formed from devices of this type, resides in that this type of stacks by a simple displacement on a table plate can be fed to a further handling device or operation, for example to a bundling or bailing press, where the stacks can be pressed into larger packets and bound together. This has the advantage that the individual packets only need to be taken away in longer time periods.
A device of this type is known from German GBM No. 76 18 803. With this known device the scalelike staggering of the sheets is obtained in the manner that the sheets exiting from a preceeding machine, for example from a printing machine or a folding machine are fed to a slower rotating conveyor belt, so that respectively the lagging edge of a sheet which is located on the conveyor belt is run over by the leading edge of a sheet following from the preceeding machine. If yet a thus staggered sheet series transfers to a stacking band conveyor acting on both sides on it, then this can only produce a stack with vertically standing sheets which stack grows in a direction opposite to the feeding direction. The support on which the stack is produced must thus extend in a direction opposite to the feeding direction of the feeder at least as far as the desired stack is supposed to be long. The distance resulting thereby between the entrance of the stacking band conveyor and the exit of the preceeding machine must thus be bridged over by the feeder. In this manner a comparatively longer feeder is the result, which means a considerable construction expense.
A further disadvantage of the known device is that in order not to make the support (which extends toward the feed direction) still longer, the bundle press which presses the stack together into a bundle must not be arranged in the growing or increasing direction of the stack behind the stack, but rather must be arranged adjacent to this. This causes particular disadvantages when from the bases of rationalization or efficiency, two or more series of sheets are supposed to be fed and stacked side by side from one machine connected in front.
The large length of the feeder required by the known device moreover has the disadvantage that this requires a comparatively heavy frame. If thus the feeder is supposed to be constructed for the height adjustment to the outlet of a preceeding machine, this height adjustment can only be carried out in a comparatively complicated manner.
It is a task on which the invention is based to make a device for stacking of vertically standing sheets, with which the stack increases in the direction in which the sheets run into the device from a preceeding machine, so that devices for further handling of the stack, for example a bundle press, can be arranged in the feed or supply direction seen behind the stacking device. In this manner also the difficulties are avoided which arise with the stacking of several series of sheets running side by side with the known device.